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As a driving force in the emerging field of statistics education, Joan Garfield is, literally and figuratively, a teacher’s teacher. Her passion for the field inspired her to develop the world’s first Ph.D. program in statistics education at the University of Minnesota, and it now serves as a model for other such programs worldwide.

As a frequent speaker at professional conferences and a tireless collaborator with her peers, she has gained the admiration of statistics educators around the globe. One colleague commented that Garfield is "the single most respected and best known name internationally in statistics education reform and research."

It is a testament to Garfield’s extraordinary gifts as a teacher that her students come to regard statistics—a subject often fraught with anxiety—as a living, breathing discipline. "Here is a teacher who teaches with her heart!" said one student, whose initial fears about learning statistics were dispelled under Garfield’s tutelage.

Garfield, who says that one of her greatest joys is developing graduate students into excellent teachers, has served as a role model and an inspiration for hundreds of aspiring educators who have passed through her classes in her 25 years at the University.

In the words of a former student, "I credit Joan with all that I’ve learned about being a good instructor… To say that [she] has been an inspiration to me would be an understatement."